TRAGEDY IS DEFINED

Tragedy is defined by how much or little
the bumps and knocks of everyday living
have done
to knock you off course.

That man I read about in the newspaper
who has lived for forty years in an iron lung
has suffered a little more than the woman
who said goddamn son of a bitch
this morning
when she damaged her nail polish on a shopping cart
down at the Safeway store on Washington Street.

With his chest heaving at regular intervals
prompted by his electric breathing machine,
does he ever say or think Oh shit
waking up
to find the goddamn polio isn't just a terrible dream
but a fucking nightmare come to stay until death
takes him?